


Repeated Nightmares and Repeated Comfort

by KodaOfHeart



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Comfort, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares, One Shot, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KodaOfHeart/pseuds/KodaOfHeart
Summary: Nightmares still wreck Dave years after the trauma happened... What better to soothe the anxiety than being comforted by his sleepy boyfriend?
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 6
Kudos: 116





	Repeated Nightmares and Repeated Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> I have other WIPs but I kept daydreaming about this at work and needed to write it xP  
> The violence is at the beginning and very brief.
> 
> I'm @/KodaOfHeart on Twitter, let me know there or in the comments what you think! <3

_CLANG!_

_The sound of metal against metal rings out, echoing all around him, through him. He blocks and dodges each swipe of the katana with relative ease, but they’re coming too fast to get in any offensive hits._

_With each blocked attack he instinctively takes a step back. Each one makes the foe step forward._

_The younger of the two is struggling to keep up as the older one slashes his katana through the air with superhuman speed, even faster than the flashstepping they’re both used to._

_The smaller of the two reaches the edge of the rooftop, he can tell by his heel reaching the small curb and almost losing his balance because of it._

_Predicting the next attack from his failure of a guardian, he holds his sword up horizontally above his head and ducks._

_But he was wrong._

_Bro slices his torso cleanly into halves right below his ribs. His upper half immediately flies backwards off the room and_ he wakes up.

Dave’s whole body jerks as he startles awake, sitting up straight and breathing heavily and sweating. His throat is sore like he yelled it hoarse but he doesn’t know if he had actually been making any noise. He’s not even sure where he is right now. It’s dark and feels like indoors, but it's not hot enough to be his childhood bedroom. Dave’s hands immediately fly to his stomach to examine by touch since he’d be afraid to look even if he could see, and he feels everything intact thank god but now holy shit there’s a hand on his arm and he jerks away again and-

“Hey, it’s just me, Karkat,” comes a quiet, gentle voice to Dave’s left. It's familiar.

He turns toward the source of the voice and sees a figure beside him, becoming clearer by the second as his abnormal eyes adjust to the low light. As his mind swims and starts to ground itself back into reality, he realizes something is wrong, something is missing.

Dave puts his hands to his face and feels around for the glasses that have become his second-biggest comfort item. The other person in the bed reaches over him to the nightstand, picking up the shades and sliding them into his hands. Dave hurriedly puts them on. Now it's even darker but at least things _feel_ more correct. There’s still a hand on his arm, its thumb rubbing small circles.

“You’re okay,” says the voice again. “It’s not real. It’s safe, _you’re_ safe, it was just a dream.” Karkat’s voice is low and the words mumbled, but it’s clear that he’s making an effort to stay awake. Dave takes pride in being the only one to hear Karkat's quiet sleepy voice.

Dave just now notices that he’s shaking.

The hand leaves his arm and for a moment he wants to grab it and put it back because now that spot is cold, but he gets something even better. And that something is two strong arms wrapped around his shoulders and a face pressed up against his back between his shoulder blades.

The human chokes back a sob and pounds the bed once with a tight fist.

“This is f-fucking s-stupid,” he murmurs, hating himself even more for the uneven voice and stuttering. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-”

“Don’t even fucking go there,” Karkat interrupts against Dave’s back, with no malice in his voice.

“I’m… This is pathetic,” Dave says, mostly to himself.

“Neither you nor this is pathetic,” Karkat assures, lifting his head a bit to speak more clearly.

Dave pauses and looks over, but can’t see a damn thing in the low light plus the shades. So with shaky hands he pulls the aviators off his face and places them back down on the nightstand. The shades are very comforting but nothing close to seeing his boyfriend. He swallows hard and turns back to Karkat.

He still has his arms lazily draped over Dave’s shoulders, and his expression is soft, which is a sight only Dave has the privilege of seeing instead of the troll’s usual perma-scowl. His hair is a mess - more of a mess than usual - and his eyes show concern. He has a line of drool crusted on the side of his cheek, eye boogers, and morning breath, and Dave loves _everything_ about him.

Dave looks at Karkat like he’s wondering how the hell he deserves someone like that.

Karkat looks at Dave like he would do anything to keep him safe and sound.

"Nothing like that is gonna happen ever again, okay?” Karkat says, already knowing what the night terror was about since this is far from the first time this has happened. “I won’t let it.”

Dave also has the honor of seeing how sappy and affectionate Karkat gets when he’s tired.

“Lay back down with me,” the troll requests. “Please?” The softness of his voice melts Dave’s heart and gives him no choice but to comply.

So he lays back down on his back, Karkat falling down and yelling timber right next to him.

Karkat’s seems to be out the moment his head hits the pillow, but Dave knows better.

“‘Kat?”

“Mm don’t call me that,” comes an unconvincing grumble.

“I, uh.” After all this time he still struggles to verbalize this simple yet complicated emotion. “I…”

“I love you too,” Karkat replies, having gone through this routine before. He knows the feelings are there even if they’re unspoken.

“I mean it.”

“I know you do. But hey, if you love me so much why don’t you marry me,” Karkat teases.

Dave knows it’s at least halfway joking, but the idea still makes his heart skip a beat.

“Maybe I will.”

All Karkat does in response is smile dumbly to himself. The kind of goofy grin that only lovestruck people wear on their lips.

Silence descends on the boys again, Karkat’s smile fading into a gentle line as he falls back asleep. Dave settles himself into the soft bed and thinks back to the first time this happened. How he had actually pulled his sword out, how scared Karkat looked, how his fear alone is what convinced Dave to empty his sylladex of weapons before bed each night. Dave recalls every time since then that Karkat has given hugs and soothing words to him to calm him down each time. At first he feels overwhelming love as he remembers all of the occasions, but it quickly turns to sour anxiety as he thinks about what a burden it must be to sleep beside him and deal with all these shitty pointless panic attacks-

The arm around him pulls close. Karkat rests his head on Dave’s chest, nuzzling slightly. He starts to purr, which means he's for sure asleep since he refuses to purr around humans and be called a "meowbeast".

Dave's feelings turn to love again, as he realizes that despite all the nights like this, Karkat still voluntarily sleeps snuggled up beside him each night. 

He takes a deep breath, his body relaxing and his mind quieting as he just thinks of this beautiful troll boy who loves him, who really truly loves him. There’s no doubt about that.

Dave falls into a pleasant and nightmare-free sleep with a cute purring troll on his chest and not as many worries in his brain.


End file.
